


make the world brand new

by aintitnifty



Category: The Avengers (2012), Thor (2011)
Genre: Gen, Norse Bro Feels, Slightly Slashy?, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-25
Updated: 2012-05-25
Packaged: 2017-11-05 23:30:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/412224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aintitnifty/pseuds/aintitnifty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five times Thor fell for Loki's illusions, and one time he did not.</p>
            </blockquote>





	make the world brand new

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by one of Loki's line in "The Avengers," featured in the fifth segment of this story. Contains spoilers from the movie, and lots and lots of Norse bro feels.
> 
> Enjoy!

**I.**

It starts with a game of hide and seek, played on a cool Asgardian afternoon when both Thor and Loki have managed to slip the watch of their tutors. They have reached the age at which Frigga deemed it necessary for each of them to pursue their own strengths – Thor in combat, Loki in sorcery – and although this means their lessons are more interesting, it also means they are not together nearly as much as either of them would like.

Naturally, this leads to many skipped lessons, in favor of play.

Thor rounds a corner of the palace on tiptoe, trying to stay as silent as possible. He has learned over the years that the best way to find Loki is to listen, so he keeps his ears perked for any shuffling or sniffling or giggling, but the hall is silent.

A shadowy figure darts across a doorway on Thor’s left and Thor smiles. He steps up to the door and swings it open with a triumphant “HA!” but the room is empty.

Frowning, Thor looks around, then almost jumps out of his skin when a gust of laughter sounds behind him. He spins and grabs for his brother’s arm, but Loki laughs again and dances away. Thor growls and lunges forward, but when he tries to snatch Loki’s hand, his fingers brush only air, and his brother’s form shimmers eerily.

Thor freezes. The hair on his arms and neck prickles, and his eyes grow wide, memories of ghost stories floating through his head.

“Loki?” he says quietly, but the image of his brother says nothing in reply. Thor steels himself and reaches out again, but his hand passes through Loki’s chest and he stumbles back, thoroughly shaken.

“Loki!” he yells, not caring who hears him, because now all he wants is to make sure his brother is all right, to make sure this is not actually a ghost.

Light footsteps hurry toward him, and then Loki is there, a wide grin on his face that fades when he sees Thor’s expression. The illusory Loki vanishes in a vague emerald shimmer and Loki approaches his brother carefully, looking concerned.

“Thor? What’s wrong?”

“What was that?” Thor demands, rubbing his arms nervously, fidgeting in order to keep from automatically reaching for his brother, to make sure _this_ Loki is real.

Loki’s brow furrows. “It was just an illusion. I’ve been learning how to work them in my studies, so I figured I’d practice them a little. Why are you so pale?”

Thor finally lets himself reach out, and he is all too relieved when his hand does not pass through Loki’s shoulder. He musters up a smile.

“Oh,” Thor says. “Maybe next time you can give me a warning?”

Loki grins. “Sure. So… round two?”

“Only if you promise not to use more illusions.”

“I promise.”

And Thor believes him.

**II.**

Odin is yelling. It is not the first time – nor will it be the last, certainly – but for some reason this particular scolding makes Thor feel cold.

He and Loki stand before the throne, their heads bowed under the livid stares of their parents and the incalculably cold and unnerving stare of Heimdall the Gatekeeper. A small part of Thor is tempted to reach out to his brother, to take courage from him as they did when they were children, being scolded for sneaking away from lessons or stealing from the kitchens, but this time is different. This time they are older – teenagers, now, and less apt to seek comfort from one another.

This time Thor is not sure if he wants Loki’s support, because it is Loki’s fault they are standing here.

Hours ago – before the reprimand, before their disastrous tryst to Muspelheim, before they almost lost their lives – Loki assured Thor their voyage to Muspelheim was allowed, and even encouraged, by their father, which was why Thor agreed to accompany his brother on his ill-advised quest to gain… something. Thor still is not sure what Loki sought in the realm of fire, but he finds now he does not care, because Loki risked their lives and deceived the All-Father and even though they managed to escape with only a few burns and bruises, Thor feels ashamed and embarrassed and – above all – indignant, because he is not sure Loki even _cares_.

Thor sneaks a glance over at his brother. Loki’s eyes are lowered, his hands clasped loosely behind his back, but there is a small smile dancing on his lips. It looks suspiciously like satisfaction.

Thor grits his teeth and looks away. Of course Loki is pleased. The only reason they were able to get past Heimdall and into Muspelheim at all was because Loki used magic to hide their presence from the great Gatekeeper, a marvelous feat, surely, but one that made Thor feel dirty. He hates the idea that he was cloaked with magic and forced to creep past Heimdall like a spy in the night. It was cowardly. It was _wrong_.

And Loki had not even told him.

So while Odin rages, and Heimdall glares, and Frigga scowls, and Loki smiles… Thor grinds his teeth and does not reach out for his brother, because this is the first time he has ever felt so betrayed.

**III.**

The battlefield is chaos. Thrashing limbs, clanging steel, cries of agony. One second Loki is at his side, flinging knives, hands wreathed in viridescent magic, and the next he is gone.

Thor whirls, Mjolnir gleaming, startled by the sudden loss. His eyes scan the writhing ranks of Asgardian warriors and frost giants, searching for a flash of green and gold, and his blood turns to ice when he finds him.

Loki is cornered, four frost giants hemming him in on all sides. His eyes are wide, flicking back and forth, searching for an escape. Long fingers flare at his sides, devoid of any more knives.

Thor yells his name and Loki meets his eye for a moment, and then the frost giant on his left rushes forward, ice sword glinting, and plunges the blade into Loki’s stomach.

The world stops. Thor _feels_ the blow. His stomach clenches, breath gusts from his lungs, his heart stutters to a halt, his fingers seize painfully around Mjolnir’s hilt. This was only supposed to be a small battle – just a quick sortie, just a scouting mission. Thor should never have let Loki leave his side, and now –

Loki vanishes. The frost giant who stabbed him stumbles and blinks in stunned befuddlement, and Thor can breathe again.

It takes a few more moments and quite a bit of shoving for Thor to find the real Loki. His brother is standing a little apart from the melee, clutching his bloodied left arm, his eyes just as wide as his illusion. Thor steps up beside him and grips his shoulder, and those eyes turn to him.

“You are well?” Thor asks, indicating Loki’s wound. Loki looks down.

“Yes, I just…” He breaks off, swallowing audibly, and his hand clenches around his arm. “It was close. I will be fine in a moment.”

Thor shifts his hand up from Loki’s shoulder to his cheek, forcing his brother to meet his eyes.

“I thought–” he says, then shakes his head and pulls Loki into a rough embrace. “Do not scare me like that again.”

Loki’s voice is muffled against Thor’s shoulder. “Scare you?”

Thor lets out a helpless laugh. “Your illusions are very realistic, brother. You have too much talent for them.”

Loki is quiet for a moment, then says, “Sorry.”

“No matter. I am glad you are safe.” Thor steps away, hefting Mjolnir with a grin. “So. Are you ready?”

Loki smiles, iridescent green dancing around his fingers. “Of course.”

They rejoin the battle as though nothing happened, and although Thor soon loses himself in the fury of the fight, he does not let Loki out of his sight again.

**IV.**

“Brother, please.”

There is no triumph in watching Loki dangle over the abyss, even though mere moments before he had been trying with all his might to kill Thor. Thor looks down at him and waits for the satisfaction, waits for the sharp, gratifying knowledge that his opponent is completely at his mercy, but it never comes.

This is no ordinary opponent. This is _Loki_ , staring up at him with wide, frightened eyes. This is his brother, hanging a hairsbreadth from death.

Thor cannot let him fall.

So he crouches, and he offers his hand, and of course – _of course_ – his brother vanishes.

Pain follows, accompanied by manic laughter and a mad scramble for survival, and Thor still cannot quite believe that this is his brother. Mjolnir feels heavier than usual in his hand, and when the time comes – when he finally realizes what he must do – his heart cracks with every blow he gives the Bridge, and shatters completely in the resounding explosion.

He hardly remembers diving after Loki when he realizes his brother is going to fall, but suddenly Gungnir is heavy and sweat-slick against his palm and he is staring down into his brother’s tear-stained face, and Loki is in danger of slipping away once more.

Thor wishes with all his heart that _this_ Loki might prove to be an illusion, as well. He hopes this Loki will suddenly vanish and then Thor will hear a familiar laugh behind him, will see dancing eyes and a grinning mouth and be told that it was all for a laugh and that Thor should stop falling for his tricks, and then they will go home and forget this terrible night and all will be well.

But Loki does not vanish. His eyes become sad, and steely. And then he lets go.

Thor never quite forgives him for that.

**V.**

“Are you ever _not_ going to fall for that?”

Thor should have known. Of course it wouldn’t be that easy. It never was, with Loki.

The static-cling sensation that stutters across his skin as he lunges through the illusion is a familiar one. He’s felt it each time Loki works his magic. It’s a sensation he has missed, as subtly powerful and dangerous as the electric charge in the air before a lightning strike.

It’s oddly comforting in its familiarity, but only for a split second, until Thor realizes what has happened. Then the door slams shut behind him and he is forced to watch as his brother kills a good man in cold blood. Thor yells, lashes out, but he cannot reach him.

_He cannot reach him._

Loki looks away, down at the complex controls. Long fingers hover over the button that will send Thor to his death. The pause isn’t hesitation. It’s _relish_ , pure and simple. A predator’s gloating victory, the moment before it destroys its prey. But the expression on Loki’s face is so distant – so clinical – that Thor hardly recognizes him.

Thor takes a dazed, horrified step back from the glass. His vision blurs, wet and warm, but he pays it no heed.

This isn’t the Loki he knows. This isn’t the brother he loves, the brother he mourned, the brother he would have given anything – _anything_ – to see again.

And as Loki presses the button, as Thor’s stomach leaps into his throat and he starts his long plummet to the ground, he wonders if he’ll ever truly see that brother again.

**I.**

For two days after his less than auspicious return to Asgard, Loki paces his cell in the bowels of the castle, apparently calm. Thor looks in on him from time to time, unsure of what to expect. Loki has said not a word since his wry request for a drink in Stark Tower, and Thor keeps waiting for the other boot to drop. Waiting for retribution, for an escape attempt, for… something.

All he gets is silence.

The end of the second day finds Thor lurking outside his brother’s cell, within earshot, if not sight. He can hear boots scuffing on the floor as Loki stalks his cell, and he can picture him, his shoulders casually slumped, his hands clasped behind his back, his eyes on the ground. Just pacing.

It is not right.

Without another thought, Thor unlocks the door and slams his way into the cell. Loki stops pacing, looking up in surprise, and for a moment – a mere fraction of a second – the image of his brother shimmers, and Thor understands.

“Loki,” he calls quietly. It is not addressed to the figure in the center of the room, and after a moment that Loki disappears, and a soft huff of laughter comes from the far corner of the cell.

“I should have known that would not fool you forever.”

Thor takes a cautious step toward his brother. He can see him, now, huddled motionless in the shadows, his legs drawn to his chest, his arms wrapped around his ankles, staring straight ahead. His face is pale and drawn and he does not look at Thor when he crouches before him.

“Leave me,” Loki says, but his voice holds no venom. He sounds merely tired.

“Not while you appear so troubled,” Thor says, and settles beside Loki, resting his back against the wall. “I will go nowhere until you talk to me, so if you want to be rid of me quickly, you had better start explaining.”

He expects a glare at least for that, but Loki does not even look his way.

“He will find me,” Loki whispers, still staring straight ahead, his eyes haunted. “It is only a matter of time.”

Thor’s brow creases. “Who will find you?”

“Thanos.” Loki’s voice is far too soft, as though he is afraid this ‘Thanos’ will hear. Hesitantly, Thor curls an arm over Loki’s shoulders – _so thin without the armor, so like the brother he remembers_ – and pulls him close. It is strange, and welcome, that Loki does not pull away.

“He will not touch you, brother,” Thor says firmly. “Not while you are in Asgard. Not while I am here. I will never let him harm you.”

Loki leans ever so slightly into Thor’s embrace and twists one pale hand into Thor’s tunic, clutching tight. Thor turns his head and lets his chin rest in Loki’s dark hair, breathing deep. His hand strokes a soothing rhythm over Loki’s arm, up and down, up and down, and he feels his brother relaxing against him. 

“Sleep, Loki,” Thor says in a low voice. “You are safe now.”

“Yes,” Loki breathes, and it is the last thing either of them says for a long time.


End file.
